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NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System


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NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System

A rendering of ILLUMA-T on the International Space Station communicating with LCRD in geosynchronous orbit.
NASA's ILLUMA-T payload communicating with LCRD over laser signals.
Credits: NASA/Dave Ryan

NASA is demonstrating laser communications on multiple missions – showcasing the benefits infrared light can have for science and exploration missions transmitting terabytes of important data.

The International Space Station is getting a “flashy” technology demonstration this November. The ILLUMA-T (Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) payload is launching to the International Space Station to demonstrate how missions in low Earth orbit can benefit from laser communications.

Laser communications uses invisible infrared light to send and receive information at higher data rates, providing spacecraft with the capability to send more data back to Earth in a single transmission and expediting discoveries for researchers.

The ILLUMA-T payload at SpaceX Dragonland.
NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload was delivered to SpaceX Dragonland, and the team integrated the payload into the Dragon trunk in preparation for its November launch.
SpaceX

Managed by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, ILLUMA-T is completing NASA’s first bi-directional, end-to-end laser communications relay by working with the agency’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration). LCRD launched in December 2021 and is currently demonstrating the benefits of laser communications from geosynchronous orbit by transmitting data between two ground stations on Earth in a series of experiments.

Some of LCRD’s experiments include studying atmospheric impact on laser signals, confirming LCRD’s ability to work with multiple users, testing network capabilities like delay/disruption tolerant networking (DTN) over laser links, and investigating improved navigation capabilities.

LCRD communicating over laser links to the International Space Station and Earth.
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) launched in December 2021. Together, LCRD and ILLUMA-T will complete NASA’s first bi-directional end-to-end laser communications system.
Dave Ryan

Once ILLUMA-T is installed on the space station’s exterior, the payload will complete NASA’s first in-space demonstration of two-way laser relay capabilities.

How It Works:

ILLUMA-T’s optical module is comprised of a telescope and two-axis gimbal which allows pointing and tracking of LCRD in geosynchronous orbit. The optical module is about the size of a microwave and the payload itself is comparable to a standard refrigerator.

The ILLUMA-T payload in the Goddard cleanroom.
NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload in a Goddard cleanroom. The payload will be installed on the International Space Station and demo higher data rates with NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration.
Dennis Henry

ILLUMA-T will relay data from the space station to LCRD at 1.2 gigabits-per-second, then LCRD will send the data down to optical ground stations in California or Hawaii. Once the data reaches these ground stations, it will be sent to the LCRD Mission Operations Center located at NASA’s White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico. After this, the data will be sent to the ILLUMA-T ground operations teams at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. There, engineers will determine if the data sent through this end-to-end relay process is accurate and of high-quality. 

“NASA Goddard’s primary role is to ensure successful laser communications and payload operations with LCRD and the space station,” said ILLUMA-T Deputy Project Manager Matt Magsamen. “With LCRD actively conducting experiments that test and refine laser systems, we are looking forward to taking space communications capabilities to the next step and watching the success of this collaboration between the two payloads unfold.”

ILLUMA-T and LCRD demonstrating laser communications.

Once ILLUMA-T transmits its first beam of laser light through its optical telescope to LCRD, the end-to-end laser communications experiment begins. After its experimental phase with LCRD, ILLUMA-T could become an operational part of the space station and substantially increase the amount of data NASA can send to and from the orbiting laboratory.

Transmitting data to relay satellites is no new feat for the space station. Since its completion in 1998 the orbiting laboratory has relied on the fleet of radio frequency relay satellites known as NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, which are part of the agency’s Near Space Network. Relay satellites provide missions with constant contact with Earth because they can see the spacecraft and a ground antenna at the same time.

Laser communications could be a game-changer for researchers on Earth with science and technology investigations aboard the space station. Astronauts conduct research in areas like biological and physical sciences, technology, Earth observations, and more in the orbiting laboratory for the benefit of humanity. ILLUMA-T could provide enhanced data rates for these experiments and send more data back to Earth at once. In fact, at 1.2 Gbps, ILLUMA-T can transfer the amount of data equivalent to an average movie in under a minute.

The ILLUMA-T / LCRD end-to-end laser communications relay system is one small step for NASA, but one giant leap for space communications capabilities. Together with previous and future demonstrations, NASA is showcasing the benefits laser communications systems can have for both near-Earth and deep space exploration.

The goal of these demonstrations is to integrate laser communications as a capability within NASA’s space communications networks: the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network. If you are a mission planner interested in using laser communications, please reach out to scan@nasa.gov.

LLCD, LCRD, TBIRD, DSOC, ILLUMA-T, and O2O in a roadmap
NASA’s Laser Communications Roadmap – proving the technology’s validity in a variety of regimes.
NASA / Dave Ryan

The ILLUMA-T payload is funded by the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ILLUMA-T is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Partners include the International Space Station program office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts.

LCRD is led by Goddard and in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. LCRD is funded through NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions program, part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, and the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

By Kendall Murphy and Katherine Schauer

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

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      Engineers conducted numerous tests to prepare the LLRV for its first flight. During one of the engine tests, the thrust generated was higher than anticipated, lifting crew chief Raymond White and the LLRV about a foot off the ground before White could shut off the engines. On June 19, during an official visit to FRC, President Lyndon B. Johnson inspected the LLRV featured on a static display. The Secret Service would not allow the President to sit in the LLRV’s cockpit out of an overabundance of caution since the pyrotechnics were installed, but not yet armed, in the ejection seat. Following a Preflight Readiness Review held Aug. 13 and 14, managers cleared the LLRV for its first flight.

      Left: NASA chief test pilot Joseph “Joe” A. Walker during the first flight of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV). Right: Walker shortly after the first LLRV flight.
      In the early morning of Oct. 30, 1964, FRC chief pilot Joseph “Joe” A. Walker arrived at Edwards Air Force Base’s (AFB) South Base to attempt the first flight of the LLRV. Walker, a winner of both the Collier Trophy and the Harmon International Trophy, had flown nearly all experimental aircraft at Edwards including 25 flights in the X-15 rocket plane. On two of his X-15 flights, Walker earned astronaut wings by flying higher than 62 miles, the unofficial boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space. After strapping into the LLRV’s ejection seat, Walker ran through the preflight checklist before advancing the throttle to begin the first flight. The vehicle rose 10 feet in the air, Walker performed a few small maneuvers and then made a soft landing after having flown for 56 seconds. He lifted off again, performed some more maneuvers, and landed again after another 56 seconds. On his third flight, the vehicle’s electronics shifted into backup mode and he landed the craft after only 29 seconds. Walker seemed satisfied with how the LLRV handled on its first flights.

      Left: Lunar Landing Research Vehicle-2 (LLRV-2) during one of its six flights at the Flight Research Center, now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, in California in January 1967. Right: NASA astronaut Neil A. Armstrong with LLRV-1 at Ellington Air Force Base in March 1967.
      Walker took LLRV-1 aloft again on Nov. 16 and eventually completed 35 test flights with the vehicle. Test pilots Donald “Don” L. Mallick, who completed the first simulated lunar landing profile flight during the LLRV’s 35th flight on Sept. 8, 1965, and Emil E. “Jack” Kluever, who made his first flight on Dec. 13, 1965, joined Walker to test the unique aircraft. Joseph S. “Joe” Algranti and Harold E. “Bud” Ream, pilots at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, travelled to FRC to begin training flights with the LLRV in August 1966. Workers at FRC assembled the second vehicle, LLRV-2, during the latter half of 1966. In December 1966, after 198 flights workers transferred LLRV-1 to Ellington AFB near MSC for the convenience of astronaut training, and LLRV-2 followed in January 1967 after completing six test flights at FRC. The second LLRV made no further flights, partly because the three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles (LLTVs), more advanced models that better simulated the LM’s flying characteristics, began to arrive at Ellington in October 1967. Neil A. Armstrong completed the first astronaut flights aboard LLRV-1 on Mar. 23, 1967, and flew 21 flights before ejecting from the vehicle on May 6, 1968, seconds before it crashed. He later completed his lunar landing certification flights using LLTV-2 in June 1969, one month before peforming the actual feat on the Moon.

      Left: Apollo 11 Commander Neil A. Armstrong prepares to fly a lunar landing profile in Lunar Landing Training Vehicle-2 (LLTV-2) in June 1969. Middle: Apollo 12 Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad prepares to fly LLTV-2 in July 1969. Right: Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard flies LLTV-3 in December 1970.
      All Apollo Moon landing mission commanders and their backups completed their lunar landing certifications using the LLTV, and all the commanders attributed their successful landings to having trained in the LLTV. Apollo 8 astronaut William A. Anders, who along with Armstrong completed some of the early LLRV test flights, called the training vehicle “a much unsung hero of the Apollo program.” During the flight readiness review in January 1970 to clear LLTV-3 for astronaut flights, Apollo 11 Commander Armstrong and Apollo 12 Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, who had by then each completed manual landings on the Moon, spoke positively of the LLTV’s role in their training. Armstrong’s overall impression of the LLTV: “All the pilots … thought it was an extremely important part of their preparation for the lunar landing attempt,” adding “It was a contrary machine, and a risky machine, but a very useful one.” Conrad emphasized that were he “to go back to the Moon again on another flight, I personally would want to fly the LLTV again as close to flight time as possible.” During the Apollo 12 technical debriefs, Conrad stated the “the LLTV is an excellent training vehicle for the final phases. I think it’s almost essential. I feel it really gave me the confidence that I needed.” During the postflight debriefs, Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard stated that he “did feel that the LLTV contributed to my overall ability to fly the LM during the landing.”

      Left: Apollo 15 Commander David R. Scott flies Lunar Landing Training Vehicle-3 (LLTV-3) in June 1971. Middle: Apollo 16 Commander John W. Young prepares to fly LLTV-3 in March 1972. Right: Apollo 17 Commander Eugene A. Cernan prepares for a flight aboard LLTV-3 in October 1972.
      David R. Scott, Apollo 15 commander, stated in the final mission report that “the combination of visual simulations and LLTV flying provided excellent training for the actual lunar landing. Comfort and confidence existed throughout this phase.” In the Apollo 15 postflight debrief, Scott stated that he “felt very comfortable flying the vehicle (LM) manually, because of the training in the LLTV, and there was no question in my mind that I could put it down where I wanted to. I guess I can’t say enough about that training. I think the LLTV is an excellent simulation of the vehicle.” Apollo 16 Commander John W. Young offered perhaps the greatest praise for the vehicle just moments after landing on the lunar surface: “Just like flying the LLTV. Piece of cake.” Young reiterated during the postflight debriefs that “from 200 feet on down, I never looked in the cockpit. It was just like flying the LLTV.” Apollo 17 Commander Eugene A. Cernan stated in the postflight debrief that “the most significant part of the final phases from 500 feet down, … was that it was extremely comfortable flying the bird. I contribute (sic) that primarily to the LLTV flying operations.”

      Left: Workers move Lunar Landing Research Vehicle-2 from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center for display at the Air Force Test Flight Museum at Edwards Air Force Base. Right: Lunar Landing Training Vehicle-3 on display outside the Teague Auditorium at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
      In addition to playing a critical role in the Moon landing program, these early research and test vehicles aided in the development of digital fly-by-wire technology for future aircraft. LLRV-2 is on display at the Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards AFB (on loan from AFRC). Visitors can view LLTV-3 suspended from the ceiling in the lobby of the Teague Auditorium at JSC.
      The monograph Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly: The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle provides an excellent and detailed history of the LLRV.
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